Making your own from-scratch marinara takes a little time but is so worth-it. This classic version, which makes 6 cups, has great depth of flavor and an intriguing note of fresh fennel. Having a batch on hand means you can put dinner on the table in minutes — so feel free to double the recipe and freeze some.
Satisfy your sweet tooth with this easy-to-make recipe for Homemade Marinara Sauce with Fresh Herbs.
1. Info for Homemade Marinara Sauce with Fresh Herbs
- Cook Time: 1 hr 50 min
- Total Time: 1 hr 50 min
- Servings: 12
- Calories: 75.63 kcal
2. Ingredients for Homemade Marinara Sauce with Fresh Herbs
- onion
- carrots
- fennel
- garlic cloves
- extra-virgin olive oil
- salt
- tomato paste
- diced tomatoes
- crushed tomatoes
- extra-virgin olive oil
- sugar
- crushed red pepper flakes
- fresh rosemary
- fresh basil leaves
3. Directions:
- Cut onion and carrot into chunks. Trim tops from fennel, then cut fennel in half lengthwise, cut out dense core in a V, and cut bulb into chunks. Pulse vegetables and half the garlic cloves in a food processor until finely chopped, but don’t pulse so much that you create a puree. Chop remaining garlic by hand and set aside.
- Heat a large frying pan over medium-high. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil, and when it’s hot, add vegetables from food processor. Season with 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are soft and fragrant but not browned, about 10 minutes.
- Add reserved chopped garlic to vegetables and cook until softened but not browned, another 2 minutes. To create deeper flavor, “toast” the tomato paste: Scoot the vegetables to one side of the pan, drop in the tomato paste, and cook it while scraping and stirring until it has browned slightly, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in both types of tomato and the 1/4 cup olive oil. Then stir in 1 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, and the rosemary sprigs. Stack basil leaves, roll, cut crosswise into shreds, and add them to sauce.
- Adjust heat so sauce bubbles gently. Cover pan and cook sauce 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove lid and continue to simmer until sauce reduces and thickens slightly, another 30 minutes, stirring frequently and scraping around sides of the pan.
- Taste sauce and add more salt or red pepper flakes; or if sauce still seems acidic, add a pinch of sugar. Remove rosemary sprigs and discard, but don’t worry about rosemary needles that will have fallen off. They are soft and tasty now!
- Serve marinara with any pasta shape, soft polenta, or meatballs; or use as a pizza topping. Store in refrigerator up to 5 days, or freeze up to 2 months.
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